The ICN is a federation of more than 130 national nurses’ associations.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has re-joined the International Council of Nurses (ICN) after previously parting ways with the organisation in 2013.
The ICN is a federation of more than 130 national nurses’ associations, representing more than 28 million nurses worldwide.
In 2013, RCN members voted to leave the organisation amid concerns over the price of membership and governance processes. However, last year, members subsequently voted to rejoin the ICN at the College’s Annual General Meeting in May 2021, where 84.7% voted in favour of a resolution to join.
NursingNotes reported that rejoining the ICN will cost the RCN “around £500,000” per year.
Working together.
RCN President Denise Chaffer said, “Being part of the ICN means we will promote our UK nursing expertise around the world.
“It gives members the opportunity to drive improvements on the issues that matter most, and to share knowledge as well as learning from others.
“We’ll work together on issues such as humanitarian support, ethical international recruitment, addressing the global shortage of nursing staff, and recovery from the global pandemic.
“The conflict in Ukraine is stark reminder of how we must continue to stand in solidarity with our international colleagues. Our membership will allow us to do so more closely wherever a crisis hits.”
The RCN reaffirms that re-joining the ICN strengthens the RCN’s commitment to working with nursing and health care organisations worldwide and builds influence on an international level.
Stronger together.
ICN President Pamela Cipriano added: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome the RCN back into ICN. The RCN has a long and illustrious history of representing nurses and advancing the profession, and their membership of ICN is extremely positive not only for the organisations but nurses globally.”
Ms Cipriano continued, “On behalf of ICN’s member National Nursing Associations I look forward to working with the RCN on the challenges we all face, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the global nursing shortage, gender and equity issues, as well as the current geo-political upheaval and climate change.”
“Together we will be stronger and have a greater influence in the world, or as the first president of ICN, Ethel Gordon Fenwick reflected, ‘by union alone can the necessary strength be found’.”
